How do you think you did on the lighting assignment? Be honest and specific about the feedback you received. Did you think your positive or negative feedback was deserved? Why or why not?

My photograph of a porcelain doll was a silhouette. I had never thought about it as any more than that, but a few people commented that it also seemed direct, since it was coming from directly behind. I didn’t get a lot of feedback, but people seemed to like the detail they could see, rather than think it wasn’t good because so much detail was visible. This made me happy to hear because I had been particularly worried that too much detail was visible and this might hurt the photo. There was a line in the background I was also worried about, but no one commented on it at all, and I’m beginning to realize maybe it wasn’t that big of a deal. This made me realize that I may have been too hard on myself when looking for all the errors I saw. I think people could have been harder on me, but everyone was kind of quiet. I think my photograph was decent, but not exactly on to evoke emotion or encourage people to have comments on. I believe it may have been a little boring, and it was from a rather straight on view, so I believe it could not have inspired them to say much.

However, I learned a lot from others’ photographs, and I now believe that if I was to repeat my picture, I could take it much better. One photograph, also silhouette, had the light coming in from the side. I think this looked much less boring and also did a good job showing details. I also feel inspired to not use a plain white background anymore, because I saw many backgrounds that were textured or bright colors. A classmate who had an orange background was my favorite photograph of silhouette, making a picture of a dinosaur amusing rather than frightening. I would change a lot about my photo if I could go back, but I think I will take this as a learning experience and really take to heart everything I learned.

When you first look at a photograph and make an initial judgment of it as being 'great', is it because it is technically great or because it makes you feel something? In other words, are you reacting to its technical quality or its emotive quality? Explain in detail.


When I first see a photograph, I initially judge it on the way it makes me feel. However, if there are any glaring problems with it, then my eyes jump to them instantly, so I don't have a chance to see how the overall photo would make me feel. I love the way that V-J Day in Times Square makes me feel, not because overall it is a great photo in the technical aspects, but because it just looks so romantic and everyone looks so happy. There is happiness seeping out of the photo, and anyone looking at it can find it easy to get caught up in that. If I was being technical, I could find things wrong with the photo, like how its not in great focus. However, until now, I'd never tried to do that, I'd always just looked at it and instantly liked it because of the feeling I got.

The message the photographer is relaying to us; that is what we feel. If it is a message of joy, we most likely see the photo and feel joyful. Then we will most likely like it, at least initially. A story is told in a picture, and that story is all we need to see to know if we like it or not. If the story evokes happiness or worry or sadness, that is how we initially feel. Emotions are contagious, and the ones being portrayed in a photo can often be found in the viewer too. You just have to be willing to look at the photo for its beauty, not for technicality.




People always say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I really do believe them. Do you?